Smelting-furnace.



No. 790,825. PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

c. E. GLAPKE.

SMELTING FURNACE.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 10, 1903.

@WY/V fim. 5/ 414 Patented May 23, 1905.

CHARLES E. GLAFKE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SlVlELTlNG-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,825, dated May 23, 1905.

Application filed January 10, 1903- Serial No. 138,574-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. GLAFKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Im provements in smelting-Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of smelting-furnaces in which the smelting is done by the use of hydrocarbon fuel; and the object thereof is to produce a furnace of great elficiency. I accomplish this object by the furnace described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of my furnace, partly in section and partly in elevation. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the smelting-chamber on a line just in front of the baflie.

In the drawings, A is the outer shell of the smelting-chamber B. This shell is composed, preferably, of steel plates riveted together in the usual manner to form a cylinder, with the ends closed except at a central aperture at each end. This shell is provided with a lining of fire-brick C or other refractory material and is placed at an incline, with its lower end projecting into the stack D, in the bottom of which is the molten-ore receptacle E, having a slag-port F and a metal-port G, through which the slag and metal are drawn off as required.

Extending through the smelting-chamber,

near the end projecting into the stack, is a baflie H to prevent too strong a draft through the smelting-chamber. This baffle may be omitted, or a number of baflies may be used, as may be required by the character of the ore being smelted. The smelting-chamber is supported upon rollers I, mounted in bearings J, affixed to the frame K. Annular rings L are secured to the casing of the smelting-chamber, which form guides with the rollers to prevent the smelting-chamber from having any longitudinal motion. To the casing of the smelting-chamber are secured gearrings M, which mesh with gears N, rigidly mounted on shaft 0, which shaft is mounted in bearings afiixed to the frame. A drivingpulley P is also rigidly mounted on shaft 0 for the reception of a belt (not shown) to impart motion thereto. A spout R leads the ore (not shown) into the smelting-chamber, where it is smelted by the heat produced by the combustion of the hydrocarbon fuel which passes through the burner S.

In the operation of my device power is applied to cause the rotation of the smeltingchamber and hydrocarbon fuel is supplied to the burner. As soon as the smelting-chamber has become heated the ore is fed into the chamber. The rotation of the chamber causes a continual change of the outer surfaces of the ore, so that in the passage of the ore through the chamber every particle thereof will contact with the heated lining. The length, diameter, and inclination of the chamber and the speed of its rotation depend upon the character of the ore being smelted. It will be observed that the end of the chamber which projects into the stack is partially closed and that by the inclination of the chamber a quantity of molten ore will be retained in the lower end of the chamber, as shown by the dotted lines, which aids in retaining heat in the chamber and will greatly assist in smelting the large pieces of ore that may not be smelted before the molten ore is reached. When it is desired to shut down the furnace, this molten ore may be drawn off through a port in the end of the chamber.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a smelting-furnace an inclined cylindrical smelting-chamber having the lower end thereof partially closed; means for rotating said chamber; means for feeding ore into the upper end of said chamber; means for supplying heat into said chamber at the upper end thereof; and a stack at the lower end of said chamber in communication therewith.

2. In a smelting-furnace an inclined cylindrical smeltingchamber having the ends thereof partially closed, said closure extending from the outer wall toward the center thereof and extending around the entire circumference; a baffle in said chamber near the lower end thereof; means for feeding ore into the upper end of said chamber; means for feeding products of combustion into the and gear-ring M said guides being secured to said casing adjacent to said rollers; feedspout R in the upper end of said casing; shaft 0 revolubly mounted in bearings afiixed to said frame-gear N and pulley P mounted on said shaft; and burner S projecting into the upper end of said casing; and stack D into which the lower end of said casing projects. In witness that I claim the foregoingI have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of December, 1902.

CHARLES E. GLAFKE. Witnesses:

Gr. E. HARPHAM, (9050. E. WINTON. 

